I think of the human brain as primarily performing the activity of minimizing prediction errors. That’s not literally all it does in that “prediction error” is a weird way to talk about what happens in feedback loops where the “prediction” is some fixed setpoint not readily subject to update based on learning information (e.g. setpoints for things related to survival like eating enough calories). In this model we’re maximally content when there is literally no prediction error.
Even assuming that this is true, why does it need to be the most important level of abstraction to consider?
Certainly there are various mechanisms built on top of predictive processing but there seem to be different mechanisms operating on roughly the same level. Even if there weren’t, you could go some abstraction levels lower and say that the brain is attempting to e.g. maintain a particular balance of chemicals within the skull (whatever combination of chemicals is necessary to keep it alive), or to just follow the laws of physics. Or you could go some levels higher and say that some complicated set of social motivations is what the brain is primarily doing. Etc.
It doesn’t seem obviously wrong to me to say that the brain is primarily performing the activity of minimizing prediction errors, but it also seems not-wrong to me to say that the brain is primarily performing any number of other tasks.
Ah, it’s because I think feedback loops are the relevant base process over which mental activity arises (yes, this is ultimately a kind of panpsychist position that also involves deflating what “consciousness” means). Thus PP is the right abstraction for understanding the kinds of feedback loops brains use.
Even assuming that this is true, why does it need to be the most important level of abstraction to consider?
Certainly there are various mechanisms built on top of predictive processing but there seem to be different mechanisms operating on roughly the same level. Even if there weren’t, you could go some abstraction levels lower and say that the brain is attempting to e.g. maintain a particular balance of chemicals within the skull (whatever combination of chemicals is necessary to keep it alive), or to just follow the laws of physics. Or you could go some levels higher and say that some complicated set of social motivations is what the brain is primarily doing. Etc.
It doesn’t seem obviously wrong to me to say that the brain is primarily performing the activity of minimizing prediction errors, but it also seems not-wrong to me to say that the brain is primarily performing any number of other tasks.
Ah, it’s because I think feedback loops are the relevant base process over which mental activity arises (yes, this is ultimately a kind of panpsychist position that also involves deflating what “consciousness” means). Thus PP is the right abstraction for understanding the kinds of feedback loops brains use.